Surrey Light Rail Transit Project

It’s Our Turn

Surrey is growing rapidly and will peak Vancouver’s population in just over 10 years. However, the population is scattered through 5 areas across a very large landmass. A system that can be quickly and affordably built to move people between the townships is desperately needed. We need a system that is flexible – one that can be raised over busy highways if needed, one that can have stops added in with minimal cost and impact, a system that uses the latest technology for light rail and can be upgraded to accommodate unanticipated future needs – is what Surrey requires.

The Surrey Board of Trade is advocating for all 27 km of the project to be built in one phase so as to take advantage of currently available Federal infrastructure funding and utilize economies of scale for vendor contracting. Our advocacy was confirmed by over 85% of our members on our 2017 Surrey Road Survey.

The Project

The Light Rail Transit project is a flexible, affordable, technologically advanced rapid transit line that will connect Newton to Surrey Centre, then on to Guildford (SNG) as part of phase 1. Phase 2 will be the Surrey-Langley Line down the Fraser Highway. In total, there will be 27 kms of rail with approximately 19 stops. Each train will be from 2 to 5 “cars” long with the ability to move up to 200 people every 10 minutes – more than triple the capacity of the current B-Line buses. Each train will have a driver that can respond to situations as they arise.

The rails will be located mostly down the center of each road, in their own dedicated lanes. The intersections will be controlled so that impact on cross traffic will be minimized. These are not trams or street cars that will impede traffic as in Toronto. And unlike the much older Calgary line that many disparage due to noise, bells and other annoyances, this project will be utilizing the latest in technology.